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RI President: Through service, we can bring peace

It’s a great honor to serve as your 2012-13 RI president and represent you in Rotary. Since joining this organization in 1975, it has changed my life and given me more than I ever anticipated. I look forward to sharing some of that with you.

Through Rotary, I learned the purpose of my life wasn’t to earn more, but to help others. Through our service, we learn that the problems that may seem large to us are really very small.

I also learned that through Rotary, we could build peace. As part of the first generation to grow up in Japan after World War II, I understand the importance of peace and its connection to our well-being.

Peace can mean many things for many people, but however we understand peace, Rotary can help us achieve it. Rotary helps us meet the basic needs of health care, sanitation, food, and education. These can bring peace. In addition, we need peace as well for vaccinators to go into countries such as Afghanistan to prevent children from getting polio. It is through our work as Rotarians that we help to build the foundation for a more peaceful world.

Through service, we can bring peace. This is why our 2012-12 Rotary theme is Peace Through Service.

President Tanaka: Thank you for your Rotary leadership. In response to your vision, The Rotary Clubs in Manhattan, Kansas, USA, are planning a Rotary Peace Forum for February 23, 2013, for District 5710. Our district has been fortunate to have three of our nominees chosen as Rotary Peace Fellows in the last five years, and we have had several valuable international projects, but we are aware that there is much more that we can be doing to further peace, conflict resolution, and global development. We welcome any suggestions you might have for our Peace Forum.

President Sakuji Peace is an appropriate and adaptable theme.D-9920 clubs will be working together pushing boundaries to unleash our potential building Peace Through Service. We will also be working on our relationships with each other.

Dear President Sakuji,
We all agree with you. Your theme is simple and very very true. We will all serve to bring about peace in our communities, country and world.
Durgesh R. Haritay
District Secretary TRF
RID 3170, India.

Dear President Sakuji Tanaka,
Rotarians around the world are inspired by your theme of “Peace Through Service”. We look forward to working with you in making this a reality through our many and varied acts of service in our local communities and around the world – especially in the developing world.
Peter Warren
President, Rotary Club of Armadale, Western Australia.

Congratulations Sakuji on bringing Peace to the forefront of Rotary, which most Rotarians have ignored by just talking and without an act or projects that breaks the barriers and makes Peace visible and accessible.

The Rotarians must not use Rotary to nurture their personal agenda which is selfish and far from Rotary’s. There is enough of “Rat-Smelling” on account of garbage and distortions, that is grossly coming in the way of peace to be visible. While there is good and great enough work being done, yet the pace is nowhere to be seen. The reasons are clear, Rotarians who feel they matter, must change their routes, attitude and outlook and approach from their own convenient agenda to that for Rotary and its lone target of peace. Difficult but not impossible.

Sakuji, you have only one year, and having touched the right point now, let it be mere one – point agenda, you must make it sustainable, not just getting stopped at the end of your year. This you can think of doing by making Peace a Corporate Program of Rotary forever, till achieved, before the successors of yours and Board takes otherwise, in the name of change. Each club and each Rotarian – 100 percent mus be doing that alone that leads to peace, through him or her or direct in the community around and touching the world level some way or the other.

To reach peace, you need to take up a “Rotarian Transformation Project First” simultaneously on the behavioural or mindset part of Rotarians so that you can get right output from them on the lines of achieving peace. Today the output from many a Rotarian is working against Rotary’s values, going astray.

I personally believe in Rotary as an institution but not all the Rotarians who like indulgence, politics, self – service and further strongly feel, educating Rotarians is close to impossibility! You can, with your vision and tact Let’s make Rotary truly peaceful first, above all!! And find the route that takes all of to the World Peace and Understanding!

Dear President Tanaka,
I hope we will build a better world to live by serving to those who are underprivileged in our society under your stewardship and thus making a peaceful world.
RTN ANIL AGARWAL
R C KHURJA
Distt 3100

DEAR PRESIDENT SAKUJI,
TODAY PIECE IS IN P-I-E-C-E-S.THROUGH YOUR BRILLIANT AND INSPIRING MESSAGE ON PEACE TO MORE THAN 1.2 MILLION ROTARIANS IN ALL THE CORNERS OF THE WORLD YOU HAVE PLANTED SEED OF PEACE.I AM SURE THAT INSPITE OF RAVAGES OF TIME,INSPITE OF CYCLONES AND STORMS,INSPITE OF MAN’S INHUMANITY AGAINST MAN, INSPITE OF MISGIDED TERRORISM THIS SEED ONE DAY WILL GROW INTO A MIGHTY TREE UNDER WHOSE LARGE SHADOW PEACE AND EVERLASTING PEACE WITH ROTARY IDEALS WILL USHER IN THIS WORLD.
PDG DR J T VYAS,D3140, MUMBAI

Thank you President Sakuji Tanaka, l associate with your theme. Your theme is most relevant for the time, and it is clear from your very life that you are an example of working for peace.

We all need peace : Within ourselves, in our familiies, clubs, work places, communities and countries.
Our club : RC Kasangati is looking forward to being the badly needed catalyst of peace in our community – we are aspiring to implement service projects, to reach out to the underprivileged as we advocate for peace.

The United Nations’ “International Day of Peace” is comming, September 21st, 2012. Like many, I am sure, I see many paralells between the UN’s “Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future” goals and our Rotary “Future Vision” goals. All this continues to be very inspiring during my year as eClub President. My work is just but a drop in the ocean, but with everyone’s help we will achieve global peace one day, I know. May God continue to bless all hard-working peace-makers. Thank you for being our leader and inspiration. :)

Yours in Peace Through Service,
Lizette Guadalupe Ödfalk
2012-13 eClub President
Rotary eClub of District 3170

Dear president tanaka; it is great theme ‘ PEACE THROUGH SERVICE ‘ for the present situation in this world. Being Rotarian we got inspired from your theme thought and we assure our best services to the community from rotary. i can see at mid of the year, it is really working out and message is reaching the non Rotarian too. I also wish all the Rotarian friends and their family happy and prosperous new year 2013.
thanks for the inspiring leadership.
yours peace team
Rtn.M.S.JAYACHANDRA ARADHYA
Director – Vocational Services
ROTARY BANGALORE SOUTH, INDIA
RI DIST 3190.